Tag: track

Favorite Motivation Tip

Steve Prefontaine's Legacy
Steve Prefontaine's Legacy

Here’s my personal favorite tip to stay motivated:

  • Find a million ways.

Who’s going to be more passionate and concerned for your motivation than you?

Seriously.  Who?

Studying others who’ve overcome obstacles is just one way. It’s one of my favorite ways. Steve Prefontaine, a rebel, also happened to be a runner.

And in the process, with his relentless courage and determination, he changed the way Americans thought, and continue to think, about running. He held every American running record from 2,000 – 10,000 meters.

In his greatest race at the 1972 Munich Olympics, he finished fourth. No medal. No glory. No hero’s welcome.

But yet, he’s the only athlete Nike has ever immortalized in a bronze statue. Ever. Any sport.  Period.

On The Run?

Not as in running, jogging, sprinting.  On the run as in a hurry.

Spent four days in Anchorage, Alaska and did not exercise.  Not by choice.

Got back late last night early this morning.  There is no exercising this morning either.  Five straight days without exercise.  I feel the pain of everyone who struggles to make physical wellness a priority.

There is no easy way.

Well, actually, there is an easy way – simply don’t worry about it until the phone rings, “Excuse me, it’s for you.  It’s your wake up call”.

Lane 8 Is Happy

Lane 8 is happy the left heel pain was minimal yesterday.  It’s sort of funny how easy it can be to find joy and happiness.  We get so busy in our daily activities that we can rob ourselves of the simplest of joys.

Every morning I check out the window as dawn gives way to sunrise. The sunrise is always beautiful, even when it is “ordinary”.

Two days ago there was a Facebook post on my wall, asking for prayers for a teenage friend who committed suicide.  This is a horrific tragedy.  One none of us can comprehend.

The basic act of thinking of a Family (one you never met) and the grief that is overwhelming everyone they know, can be a humble joy. Believing that your thoughts and feelings for them may in some way comfort them.

Part of what makes Lane 8 blog posts about health and wellness so much fun to write about is that every once in awhile, if I feel like it, there is editorial license to blog about something else.  This also makes Lane 8 happy.

Can Barely Walk

Last night I could barely walk.  Foot pain.  Left heel.  Why?  Not sure.

Some of you know I represented the United States at the 2009 Masters Track & Field World Championships in Lahti, Finland.  The first week of August seems like so long ago, when in fact, it wasn’t.  Since then, I’ve completely tapered off on training. Completely.

So why the pain?

What is amazing to me, and something I tried to hide in the Lane 8 blog posts before traveling to Finland, is that I was actually able to compete at all.

“Then why put yourself through all this”?, is a common question.  Roger Bannister, the first human to break the four-minute mile barrier, said it best:

“I sometimes think that running has given me a glimpse of the greatest freedom a man can ever know, because it results in the simultaneous liberation of both the mind and body…..  The runner does not know how or why he runs.  He only knows that he must run…..  We run, not because it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves”. — Roger Bannister 1956